Amnesty offered for red-light, parking tickets

December 01, 2008

People with Chicago parking or red-light tickets who take advantage of an amnesty that began today could save money and avoid the possibility of getting "booted" next month.

Half of the penalty for late payments on the 3.5 million outstanding tickets issued before 2007 will be waived for those who pay under the amnesty that ends Feb. 14, city Revenue Department Director Bea Reyna-Hickey said today.

And people whose cars were sold or wrecked as a result of being booted won't have to come up with boot, tow and storage fees if they pay the tickets, she said, noting payment plans would be available to more people than before.

Those who pay after the amnesty ends also could be hit with a new fee, because the city will start passing along the cost of placing tickets into collection. That adds up to 22 percent, Reyna-Hickey said.

"This is an important opportunity for motorists to come into compliance," Mayor Richard Daley said in a statement. "The amnesty period allows motorists to pay their tickets in full and get a 50 percent discount on the penalties.

"Motorists also have the opportunity of entering a payment plan to avoid having their vehicles booted and incurring additional collection costs for delinquent tickets after the amnesty expires."

At the end of the amnesty, the city would place the Denver Boot on vehicles with two or more year-old parking and red-light tickets. Currently, a vehicle most have three tickets, although they don't have to be a year old.

Daley's recently passed 2009 budget banks on collecting $4.2 million in additional revenue by lowering the boot threshold to two tickets. Reyna-Hickey said the city is owed $40.1 million on tickets not paid for more than a year.

The city's last ticket amnesty was in 2002, Reyna-Hickey said. During the past 10 years, the number of tickets issued annually has dropped to about 2.6 million from 3.5 million, she said.

But revenue during that period rose to about $182 million from $68 million, she added.